ISHB Zoom Conversation Series
Re-orienting the Conversation on Buddhism in the West
We are excited to announce the Institute’s new bi-monthly conversation series titled “Re-orienting the Conversation on Buddhism in the Global West.” Discussions on Buddhism in the West often focus on the experiences of lay Buddhists who belong to the ethnic mainstream of countries such as the USA and the countries of Europe. While these studies provide valuable inside in one sub-demographic of the Western Buddhist landscape, a demographic that is sometimes called "white convert" Buddhists, they completely overlook the majority of Buddhists in Western societies: Buddhists who possess cultural and family linkages to Asia. ISHB’s new bi-monthly Zoom conversation series aims to address the issue by opening up the conversation on who counts as a Western Buddhist. It will include lay Buddhists as well as Monastics, and academics as well as practitioners.
2022 Lectures Completed
Dr. Funie Hsu (she/they) is an associate professor of American studies at San José State University. She is a former University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellow and is a transdisciplinary scholar
whose research areas include American Buddhism, race, Asian American studies, education, mindfulness, language, gender, human animal studies, and the political status of Taiwan. Her research is largely informed by her upbringing in a working class, multilingual Taiwanese American Buddhist family, and her prior experience as an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles Unified. Her writing has appeared in Journal of Global Buddhism, American Quarterly, Educational Studies, CATESOL, L2 Journal, Buddhadharma, Lion’s Roar, and Huffpost.com.
We will have a conversation with Dr. Hsu about her upbringing as an Asian American Buddhist in Southern California, her famous 2016 Lion’s Roar Article on the erasure of Asian American Buddhism, and her most recent engagement as a co-organizer of May We Gather, a national Buddhist memorial for Asian American ancestors. Please register for this exciting event.
Ven. Miao Guang is Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s personal English interpreter. She is
deputy chancellor at the Fo Guang Shan Institute of Humanistic Buddhism and adjunjct associate professor at the Department of Religious Studies, Nanhua University. Ven. Miaoguang has studied at University of New South Wales
and Fo Guang University. She holds a BA degree in Asian studies and a Master’s degree in Buddhist studies. Furthermore, she currently serves as the director of the Fo Guang Dictionary of Buddhism English Translation Project.